Making Enemies
From the acclaimed author of the “must-have” (R.A. Salvatore, #1 New York Times bestselling author) The Monsters Know What They’re Doing series, an indispensable and easy-to-follow new handbook for creating original enemies in tabletop role-playing games.
In The Monsters Know What They’re Doing, the essential tactics guide for Dungeon Masters, and its sequel, MOAR! Monsters Know What They’re Doing, Keith Ammann reverse-engineered hundreds of fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons monsters to help DMs prepare battle plans for combat encounters before their game sessions.
Now, in Making Enemies, he explores everything that goes into creating monsters from the ground up: size, number, and level of challenge; monster habitats; monster motivations; monsters as metaphors; monsters and magic; the monstrous anatomy possessed by real-world organisms; and how to customize monsters for your own tabletop roleplaying game adventuring party to confront. No longer limited to one game system, Making Enemies shows you how to build out your creations not just for D&D 5E but also for Pathfinder 2E, Shadowdark, the Cypher System, and Call of Cthulhu 7E. Including interviews with some of the most brilliant names in RPG and creature design, Making Enemies gives you the tools to surprise and delight your players—and terrify their characters—again and again.
Reviews
"Making Enemies is a powerful resource that will kickstart the imagination of any game master. Even if you’re not in the business of designing monsters for your game, the insight, knowledge, and examples provided here will help you become a better GM and improve basically any campaign."
"Once more: it’s a beast. A monster. A behemoth. But it’s a behemoth of the very best kind. It’s a CR 30 epic boss of a book with a treasure hoard of inspiration. I don’t know what you expected from Keith Ammann, but it was probably this."
"Keith’s incredible enthusiasm for game design and TTRPGs shines through every page of this book."
"Keith Ammann wrote another thought-provoking, thorough, and useful guide in Making Enemies. As a professional DM, it’s a great refresher on creating monsters with theme in mind so my players are always getting encounters that go beyond your average battle. For hobbyists, this book will help you refine your BBEGs into memorable characters that feel properly foreshadowed, will steal the spotlight, and that your players will love to hate on sight."
"Making Enemies is a well researched and thought out work which is a great aid to game designers in creating monsters, and an asset to game masters looking for ways to effectively and thoughtfully run monsters."